JREF Swift Blog

Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo-woo in medicine.

Placebo effects are not the “power of positive thinking” (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/ted-kaptchuk-versus-placebo-effects-again/ Ted Kaptchuk thinks placebos constitute effective treatment and believes it is possible to use them without deception. His new study compared placebo to the drug Maxalt for migraine, manipulating the information given to subjects as negative, neutral, or positive. Kaptchuk has hyped the results as showing the power of positive thinking, ignoring the fact that there were no more people free of pain in the placebo group than in the no treatment group. The study doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know.

Tribalism and Medical Ethics (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/tribalism-and-medical-ethics/ A new book by Joshua Greene argues that tribalism is the central tragedy of modern life. He provides intriguing insights from evolution and from recent studies in psychology and neuroscience to inform a new understanding of morality, and he argues for a pragmatic utilitarianism. His ideas are applicable to medical ethics and controversies like abortion.

Quantum Snake Oil – A Primer (Steven Novella) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/quantum-snake-oil-a-primer/ A lesson in how to create and market a bogus health product describes what unethical marketers actually do. It sheds light on human psychology and explains the various ploys that influence people to buy useless remedies.